Harrell is one of three picked by Sporting News as football's best

Published: Thursday, December 18, 2008

Graham Harrell wasn't even invited to New York for Saturday's Heisman Trophy presentation, and he also was nowhere to be found on the All-America team released by The Associated Press earlier this week.

But Texas Tech's senior quarterback wasn't overlooked by The Sporting News, which on Wednesday named Harrell as its co-national player of the year along with fellow Big 12 Conference quarterbacks Sam Bradford of Oklahoma and Colt McCoy of Texas. Bradford and McCoy finished first and second, respectively, in the Heisman balloting, while Harrell was fourth.

"It's a tremendous honor to be named the national player of the year," Harrell said in a statement released by Tech. "I want to thank everyone at The Sporting News for recognizing just how difficult the Big 12 was this season and especially the Big 12 South."

Harrell, whose Red Raiders finished in a three-way tie for first place in the South along with the Sooners and Longhorns, passed for 4,747 yards and 41 touchdowns with only seven interceptions during the regular season. Heading into the Cotton Bowl against Mississippi on Jan. 2, the Ennis native ranks second in major college football history with 15,429 yards and 130 TDs for his career. Harrell needs only one more TD pass to match the record held by Hawaii's Colt Brennan.

Harrell's favorite target, sophomore receiver Mike Crabtree of Dallas, made The Sporting News' first-team all-America squad for the second straight year and is a consensus all-American for the second year in a row. Crabtree, also a two-time Biletnikoff Award winner as the nation's best receiver, had 93 catches for 1,135 yards and 18 TDs during the regular season.

Crabtree also was named Wednesday as the repeat winner of the Paul Warfield Trophy presented by The Touchdown Club of Columbus, which also named Tech's Mike Leach as the Woody Hayes Trophy winner honoring the nation's top collegiate coach. Crabtree and Leach will receive their awards at a Feb. 7 banquet in Columbus, Ohio.